governor chris christie toured his battered state by air, described what happened as unthinkable. >> the devastation that's happened to new jersey is beyond what's happened to anyone else, at least from the reports i've seen so far. that should come as no shock since the storm made landfall here. >> reporter: it hit just south of atlantic city, leaving residents who defied the mandatory evacuation order stranded. dozens had to be stranded from shelters of last resort where the power failed. in northern new jersey, more search and rescue, after a tidal surge pushed a river over its banks. the water rose five feet in a matter of minutes. >> it's like a lake in our basement. and it filled up to our stairs. >> there was no phone lines, the electricity was out, all our phones were dead, basically, we couldn't call nobody. >> reporter: across the state, 2.4 million customers, 60% of the population have no power. the worst of it was probably right along the coast, in towns like point pleasant beach, where this morning some who chose to ride out the storm told of an unbelievable experience.